


Nothing Ever Really Ends

by orphan_account



Series: Evernatural [2]
Category: Everlost, Supernatural
Genre: AU, Crossover, Fusion, M/M, Multi, everlost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-07 06:01:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/427700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fusion of Supernatural with Shusterman’s Everlost ‘verse (with a few tweaks by yours truly)  Sam is brought back from the pit with his soul, and everything returns to normal-even Gabriel is back. Until Cas tells them about an amulet trapped in a mysterious new world that could bring back Lucifer. That’s when the trouble begins. You don’t have to read the Everlost books to enjoy this (there are just a few inside jokes), but they are in fact worth reading. This is an alternate universe!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing Ever Really Ends

**Author's Note:**

> title taken shamelessly from part of Chuck’s Swan Song narration in Supernatural. Thank you, reader. Yes, you. Stop looking around. It's you. Thank you, with all my heart, for reading.

There is a place for humans-namely children-who were lost on their journey to Heaven. They call it Everlost, but it had another name when it began, old, hard-to-pronounce, and only remembered by angels. And perhaps their absent father, if you believe in that sort of stuff. You don’t get left behind because Heaven doesn’t want you. Heaven wants everyone it can get. It’s just that you got lost. Humans are good at that. You couldn’t go on, because you have unfinished business in the living world, or because Fate saw your future and knew you had an important place in Everlost. She’s infuriating, Fate, but don’t ever say she doesn’t do her job. Everlost is the place in-between. It’s Heaven’s waiting room, but there are some things in Everlost even Heaven doesn’t know about.

Dean wakes up and something’s wrong. He’s not wearing his amulet. His neck feels strangely vulnerable without the thin cord around it. He scrabbles sleepily under his pillow (it’s come off in his sleep before) until he remembers he threw it away in a motel room trash can-over a year ago. He regrets doing that, but it’s too late, isn’t it? God, he’s tired.

The motel room is quiet, and dust swirls slowly in the air. He hears a low rumble outside the motel-there’s supposed to be a rainstorm coming over them soon. Sam is still asleep on the bed next to Dean, hands fisted in the thin blanket. Sam. Dean’s still not used to waking up next to him. For six months he woke up next to Lisa, in an expensive bed in a house for once instead of a motel. For six more he lived in motel rooms alone, Lisa having said he was “distanced”. Something had to break, so Dean went back, taking any frustrations out on the next beastie that tried to eat him. Nothing had really changed.

But now it’s back the way it was before Sam fell into the Cage. Dean’s still suspicious, because his luck is rarely ever as good as it is now. He’s got his brother back-and good as new, Cas said-soul and all. Dean thinks it’s going to take a few more mornings to get over that. Unfortunately, his deep thoughts are interrupted by Castiel, who looks as serious as ever. Dean’s actually pretty glad to see him. Cas has been away for a whole week, trying to find out why Gabriel came back.

Something else Dean’s finding hard to believe-Gabriel’s back. A day after Sam appeared Dean woke up to a deafening ringing in his ears and the windows of the motel blowing out. Next thing he knew they were dragging an unconscious archangel past an angry motel owner. Gabriel woke up eventually, with the same sarcasm and insults, but no idea why he’d been brought back. He couldn’t remember anything past Lucifer ganking him at Elysian Fields.

He could, however, determine that most of his Grace was missing, and that Team Free Will had better find out what the fuck happened to him, because being human (or close to it) sucks. Now Cas is on a mission to find out more, but Dean doubts he’ll find anything. They’re lucky, but not that lucky.

Sam shakes awake; he automatically goes on ninja-mode when he hears angels appear. He looks just as tired as Dean, and his ridiculously long hair is sticking to the right side of his face. Cas just stands there in the center of the room. Dean rubs a hand over his face.

“What’s up, Cas?” he asks. “Trouble,” Cas simply says. He looks anxious, which is sort of making Dean anxious too. What’s so big it can shake Cas? “What’s wrong?” Sam asks. “I’ve just talked to Balthazar. It seems an amulet has been lost. A very dangerous one,” Cas says. “How dangerous?” Dean asks. “If the blood of Lucifer’s vessel is poured onto the sigils…it calls Lucifer to Earth.” Sam’s face falls into horror, and Dean’s stomach sinks. It is too fucking early for this.

“What? How? I thought the cage was invincible,” Sam says, a little frantically. Cas looks even more at unease. “We thought it was. But we also thought the amulet was gone.” He looks at the two of them. “We were wrong.”

“Okay, so we have to destroy this thing? Do we even know where it is?” Dean doesn’t want to waste any time. He’s got to keep up, when the stakes are this high. “It’s in Everlost. I believe some call it limbo.” Dean just stares. Sam lets out a confused laugh. It sounds a little hysterical. Uncharted territory again. Freaking great. “Okay, so there’s a limbo now? How come we’ve never heard of it?”

“No human knows about it. It exists separate from the living world, just outside your perception. It’s where lost souls go-those who are waiting to go to Heaven.”

“C’mon, Cas, how come you never take me anywhere nice?” Dean complains, fake pout earning another short laugh from Sam. “Alright then, what’s it like?” Sam asks curiously. “I’ve never been there,” Cas admits. “When I was taking orders from Heaven, I was forbidden from going there. Everlost is neutral ground, claimed by neither Heaven nor Hell. It didn’t matter to us,” Cas says quietly. “But I’ve heard stories. A long time ago, my brothers and sisters would tell me about it,” he says. He gets this faraway look on his face.

Sam and Dean listen as Cas tells them what he heard. That passed-on souls-either people who had died or were comatose-were called Afterlights, because they had seen the light, but were lost before they could move on. They had to stay in Everlost until they were ready to get where they were going. Cas said he thought they went to Heaven, but he didn’t sound sure. Limbo is a mystery, even to angels.

He told them Afterlights could take vessels to get back into the living world-but only if their bodies were still alive. And what’s more, objects could pass into Everlost-as long as they were loved or important enough to have left a permanent mark in limbo. There’s a small, unused corner in Dean’s brain that thinks it’s a bit romantic-nothing you love ever dies, in Everlost.

“The amulet was destroyed in the living world, long ago. It passed on into Everlost, though. Its importance ensured it is not really destroyed,” Cas says. Dean thinks this is ridiculous. This isn’t just trying to stop Lucifer alone-and for the second time, god damn it-this is going into a whole new world.

“Recently, there have been rumors among some of the demons that the amulet could be found in Everlost, and brought back to the living world,” Cas finishes. “And how do you know they weren’t lying?” Sam asks skeptically. “Balthazar…convinced them to tell the truth.” Cas looks disappointedly at the motel carpet. God, we’re actually going to do this again, Dean thinks. He feels stupid for thinking the fight was over.

“Afterlights sleep for nine months when they arrive,” Cas explains. Sam’s loving this. “Nine months to be born, nine months to die,” he says. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Well, we can’t waste that time,” Dean says indignantly. Cas nods. “Yes, I-”  
Cas cuts off when Gabriel appears in the chair by the door like he was always there. “Hey, little bro.” he smiles at Cas. “Only by a few millennia,” Cas grumbles under his breath. Dean would smile at the almost human reaction he sees in Cas, but he’s busy glaring at Gabriel. He looks tired-there are dark circles under his eyes-but that doesn’t stop Dean from directing all his anger from the situation at hand at him.

“Don’t tell me we’ve got to take him with us.” Cas shakes his head. “That…would not be wise.” He looks at Gabriel with what Dean thinks is concern. “Yeah, sorry boys, but going to Everlost takes a lot of mojo. Traveling there without enough Grace would kill me.” He smiles wryly. Sam wants to ask how he knows what they were talking about, but he knows he’ll only get an answer like “because I’m awesome.” It’s happened before. Besides, Gabriel of all people seemed like the person to be most interested in what Lucifer was doing.

“I was dead before. It was boring,” Gabriel says flatly. He nods at Cas. “Thursday’s Child can take you.”  
Cas just turns back to Dean. “I can take a shortcut,” Cas continues. “I will have to reap your souls into Everlost.”

“And that’ll keep us from falling asleep?” Sam asks. Cas nods. He considers himself to be good at reaping souls. He’s done it before, albeit for less noble purposes. He knows how to pull a soul into Everlost in the correct way, so they won’t fall asleep immediately. It’s a skill, really.

“But your bodies will stay in the living world. So Gabriel must stay to protect you. If something gets a hold of Sam’s blood, Lucifer will rise.” Cas says. His face is set with determination. Gabriel, for once, is matching the serious look on Cas’ face. This is his problem, too. “Demons will almost definitely be coming,” Cas says solemnly. Great.

There are reasons why demons often pick living vessels. One reason, unfortunately, is that demons enjoy it greatly. They like nothing more than taking someone’s mind and body and doing horrific things with it. But another reason is because, in dead vessels, demons can see Everlost. The demons might be alive, but the eyes they see out of aren’t-so the living world is blurry to them. Demons find that this can be quite annoying when you are trying to take over said world.

When demons die, they are called Afterdarks instead of Afterlights, because they have never known any light. They go to Purgatory, the level of Everlost reserved for evil creatures of every kind. And they wait to move on. Just like Afterlights do, but with a different destination-Hell. To this day, demons tend to choose living vessels.

But that doesn’t mean you’re safe six feet under. Some demons know about Everlost. Demons don’t quite have the moral standards angels do, who pick only living vessels-so they will possess dead vessels, when it serves their purposes. The bravest and stupidest ones will try to see into the land of the forgotten. In Everlost, there is nobody to protect the strange treasures of the dead.

“Hold on,” Dean protests. After having all the Everlost terms explained to him and Sam by Cas, he’s just got one problem. “I am not leaving him alone with my comatose body!” Gabriel smirks at him. “Gabriel will not harm you or Sam,” Cas says. “Right, brother?” The lights flicker threateningly, and Sam looks at the lamp by his bed warily, as if it might explode. Cas’ blue eyes have darkned slightly. Gabriel rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I won’t touch your boyfriend or Sammy. Cross my heart and hope to die. Again.” He crosses his heart and looks at them expectantly.

“C’mon, it’s not like I’d even be able to if I wanted to.” He looks away. Dean fights the urge to throw water in Sam’s face, because he’s got to snap out of whatever’s got him looking at Gabriel with what appears to be sympathy. “Good,” Cas replies.  
Cas pulls Gabriel aside, and they talk on the other side of the room in hushed tones for a while. Probably chatting about what a dick their brother is.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Sam asks. “Hell yes,” Dean says roughly. “We’ve done dumber things for less,” he points out. Sam huffs a laugh. “Yeah,” he acknowledges. “Look, Sam, we won’t let him come back,” Dean assures him. He wants Sam to stop looking worried. “Yeah,” Sam says, nodding. He lets a small smile break the tension on his face. “The only thing I’m worried about is letting that douche watch over us while we’re gone. I don’t trust him,” Dean says. Sam’s mouth twists the way it does when he’s thinking hard. “He picked a side. I don’t think he’d do anything worth Cas smiting him,” he tries. Dean grins. “I guess, man. But limbo? Really?” he can’t stop from asking. Dean had really hoped he wouldn’t have to go into a coma again.

Eventually, Sam and Dean sit next to each other on Dean’s bed, and when Cas asks them if they’re ready the “Yes,” that comes out of Dean’s mouth is true. He has to do this. He can’t let Lucifer come back. Gabriel watches, face grim, as Cas reaches inside Sam and Dean and pulls. There’s no going back now, not even if Dean wants to run from the uncomfortable sensation of his soul separating from his body. There are two flashes of white light, so bright Dean has to close his eyes, and suddenly he’s sinking into the floor of the blurry motel.

He quickly pulls up his legs, and it helps, but he keeps sinking slowly. He looks behind him and Sam is doing the same thing as him, face half-interested and half-scared. Cas appears next to them. “You should keep moving,” Cas informs them. He grabs their arms and suddenly they’re zapped somewhere else-the lobby of a hospital, Dean notes-and somehow he’s not sinking anymore. What was it Cas said? That the only solid ground was where someone had died? Okay, this makes sense, Dean thinks as he scans the lobby. Lots of people die in hospitals.

There are living people in the hospital, illuminated in the huge fluorescent hospital lights, and Dean starts as a boy in scrubs passes right through him. Even more unnerving is the silence. There are people moving all around him, blurry scenes of action-but he can’t hear anything from the living. “Why are we in a hospital?” Sam asks. His eyes are wide. “This was the nearest place with enough solid ground. I thought it wise for you to get your bearings before we searched for the amulet,” Cas explains.

At “solid ground” Sam gets it. He feels a little weird standing over the spots where people had died, but he supposes he does that every day without realizing. He’s still a little in shock. He’s gone to Heaven and Hell, and there are still places that surprise him, somehow.

They walk outside-a feat achieved easily, as the three can now walk through walls-and suddenly Dean’s freaking out a bit again. It’s dark outside, even though it’s early, and the moment he walks out he starts glowing like a freaking firefly. From head to toe, he and Sam are shining with a pale light. And then Dean notices with a jolt that it’s raining, and the rain is passing right through him. It’s so oddly like being a ghost, and Dean supposes he is-for a while, anyway. He looks at Sam, exchanging incredulous looks. Sam is smiling and okay, maybe Dean is too a little bit. But he and Sam don’t say anything as raindrops pass through them, and instead look to Cas.

They discussed this back at the motel. Cas could track the amulet because it was demonic in origin-he said once he was in Everlost he could sense it. “Do you know where the amulet is, Cas?” Sam asks, flinching (irrationally, he knows, but he can’t help it) as a raindrop passes through his right eye. “I believe so. It’s faint, but I know its general location,” Cas answers. “I can take us closer, but we’ll need to walk some,” Cas says. “All right then. What are we waiting for?” Dean asks. Cas puts his hands on their arms and they’re slowly sinking into a grassy plain.

Cas can sense the amulet, but he can’t find where it is exactly. It’s covered in protective sigils, and he has to concentrate just to feel the demonic presence around him. But he knows it’s here, so they begin walking. Everlost is…different. Dean can just barely make out people and buildings in the living world, blurry vague shapes in contrast to the sharp detail of the landscape in Everlost. He can see a few passed-on buildings as he moves quickly through the desolate field, Sam and Cas by his side. If he moves fast enough, he doesn’t sink at all.

However, apparently Cas forgot to mention to him that in Everlost, you feel nothing. Nothing at all-not cold, or warm, or tired-he feels numb. He doesn’t even need to breathe, though his lungs fill and empty themselves on reflex, and it’s all a little disorienting. He shoves his hands in his pockets, and then frowns as he feels something cold and hard at the bottom. He pulls out a beat-up nickel. Weird. He doesn’t usually have spare change. Hustling pool and identity theft is too rewarding for him to worry about change, and Sam usually just leaves any coins they have as a tip for the maid, the conscientious bastard.

Cas stops and looks at the coin closely. “That is your connection to Heaven,” he states. “When it grows hot, it means you’re ready for Heaven to take you.” Sam sticks his hand in his pocket and pulls out a nickel as well. He inspects it as if there’s a button he should press. “Well, looks like I’m all in. The thing’s freezing,” Dean says, sticking the nickel back in his pocket. He won’t need it. “Yeah, so’s mine,” Sam says. The cool weight of it in his palm is the only thing he can feel, and he replaces it in his pocket reluctantly. “Why’d they give us tickets to Heaven? We’re not trying to get there,” Dean questions Cas. He shrugs, and this time Dean does smile. “Every Afterlight gets one. Both of you should keep yours. You may not need it, but they may be valuable,” he suggests. Dean nods and they continue trekking across the blank land for a few more minutes.

He might be getting the hang of this Everlost thing. Just gotta keep moving. He doesn’t get tired from walking, either. This is gonna be a piece of pie. Suddenly he glimpses a rush of movement out of the corner of his eye. He whirls around and catches a pair of legs disappearing behind the wall of a passed-on building; what looks like an old hotel. He walks toward it and Sam and Cas follow him wordlessly. A short black-haired girl is leaning against the ancient wooden wall, making Dean take a step back in surprise. The three of them stop and stare for a moment; even Cas is surprised.

“Uh…hello?” Sam says carefully. The girl can’t be older than twelve, with long raven hair and big brown eyes. She’s glowing red; this glowing thing (Afterglow, Cas said) seems to correspond to emotion. And this girl looks pissed. “Who are you?” she demands. “We’re just passing by,” Dean says, putting on his most friendly smile. “Alyssa, you’re supposed to be finding us!” A head sticks out from behind a tree.

“Oh, hey, tourists!” a blonde Afterlight-maybe about fourteen-runs over, grinning. He looks at the three of them and frowns. “Old tourists.” Sam looks slightly offended. Alyssa pokes the boy in the chest. “Found you.” The kid scowls at her. Before Dean or Sam can say anything else, another Afterlight falls out of the tree with a loud yelp. Dean winces. He’s glad Afterlights don’t feel anything.

The boy sighs. “Andy! You’ve got to be more careful! You’re gonna get your head stuck in the ground again!” Andy’s knee-high in the ground; the fall made him sink faster. He looks about ten, with a bad haircut and a round face. “Shut up, Toby,” he yells back, Afterglow shining an embarrassed pink as he tries to lift his legs, which are slowly sinking even further into the ground. Toby sighs again. “One minute,” he promises, and runs over to Andy. Dean can hear the two arguing as Toby tries to pull Andy out of the ground. “Christ, did you pass over fat!”

“Shut up!”

Alyssa folds her arms and turns to Dean. “There isn't anybody your age here. How the hell did you get here?” Dean’s a little put off at having a tween talk to him so guardedly. Besides, what is he supposed to say? Hello, we’re on a mission to stop Satan from destroying the Earth. Also, this attractive fellow over here is an angel of the Lord. Seen any evil amulets lately? Luckily, Sam saves him. “We’re lost. We don’t know how we got here,” he says, putting on his best puppy eyes. Alyssa softens a little bit, but she still looks reluctant to take her eye off them. “If you need somewhere to stay, you can stay at the hotel. There are plenty of rooms. If you need something, the Finder’s probably got it. That’s all we can do,” she says matter-of-factly, as if she’s recited it many times before.

Sam smiles at her. “Actually, we’re looking for something. Do you know where this, uh, Finder guy is?” Alyssa jerks her head toward the hotel. “Inside.”

“Thanks,” Sam says. She’s still looking at them curiously. She squints at Dean’s shoulder, where his too-small shirt doesn’t cover all the skin. Hey, it’s not like he felt like he needed to dress fancy for limbo. “Is that a handprint on your shoulder?” Dean glows pink.

Waiting for the rest of Team Free Will to get back from their vacation in limbo is boring, and Gabriel doesn’t deal with boredom very well. He tries to magick up some candy while watching TV, but he finds he’s still tired from zapping himself to the motel room, and manages to create only a sad-looking Jolly Rancher. He supposes stitching together an archangel is no easy task, but he wishes whoever the hell brought him back would hurry up a bit. Dear Dad, how do the humans deal without Grace? It must be so mundane. And right now Gabriel’s just as good as them. Isn’t that a happy thought. Gabriel sighs and changes the channel.

The hotel, as it turns out, was very important in the living world. Built by hand in the 1800s by a man and his wife, who ran it, Montmorency Hotel was so loved it passed on into Everlost when it caught fire by accident.

As Dean walks in, he sees antique glass chandeliers, red and gold carpeting, and an Afterlight leaning against the golden spiral banister. “Hey,” he greets them. He walks over eagerly. “How…how are you here? Only brats get stuck here.” He looks about fourteen, brown hair, and he’s got dark jeans and a black t-shirt with Godzilla on it. He’s got sunglasses on, even though it’s pretty dark inside with only the chandeliers. “Dude, is that a handprint?” he looks at Dean, an amused smile on his face. Dean wishes he brought a jacket. The kid’s look turns sympathetic. “Sorry, you passed over with that? That sucks. I passed with these,” he pokes his sunglasses, “So now I’m stuck with ‘em. I’m Danny, by the way. But some people call me the Finder like I’m some kinda friggin’ superhero.” This kid’s talkative; it must be lonely in limbo.

Cas, who has been silent this whole time, surprises Dean by saying, “I’m Castiel. This is Sam and Dean. We’re looking for an amulet.” Danny looks thoughtful. “Huh. A specific one?” Cas nods. “We can check in the back,” Danny suggests, walking around the spiral stairs to a tiny, empty room that probably never saw anything more exciting than filing cabinets when it was in the living world.

Dean, Sam and Cas follow him, and Dean can’t help the tiny spark of hope that flares up inside at the thought that the amulet might be here. The room has nothing inside but a round table with a big cardboard box. “What does it look like?” Danny asks Cas. “It’s a black jewel surrounded by silver. It should have…strange symbols on it,” Cas responds. And without mentioning angels or demons. They grow up so fast. Dean restrains himself from smiling at Cas. No chick-flick moments in limbo.

Danny strides over to the box, Sam, Cas and Dean by his side, and dumps its contents on the table. Mismatched earrings, a yo-yo, and a Barbie doll are just some of the things that make up the junk spread on the table. Dean can see a green teddy bear, a gold bracelet, and a few worn romance novels-objects that passed over into Everlost because humans are selfish and a bit obsessed with material goods. But there’s no amulet. Nothing that’s even a little demonic-looking, although the Barbie looks pretty shifty to Dean. “How’d you get all this junk?” Dean has to ask. Danny shrugs. “I found it. Passed-on stuff is valuable around here. So I trade it to get around. Most Afterlights would sell their right arm for a passed-on book. Too bad the fleshies never love the right stuff. ‘s always boring stuff, like Barbies or vampire books.” Danny motions to the pile with distaste.

"The amulet is not here," Cas says with disappointment. "Ah, sorry," Danny says. He rubs the back of his neck. "Look, I'm gonna go make sure Andy's not at the center of the Earth, but if you guys need anything you tell me, alright?" Sam nods and smiles. "Thanks." Danny walks out. "Well great, what do we do now?" Dean asks. "I know the amulet is close. I can feel it. If it is not here, we must move on," Cas replies. Dean and Sam look at each other. "Alright," Dean says, but he doesn't know if it will be.

The demon can see the amulet. It stands out from the living world, clear in the pretty eyes of the long-dead woman she possesses. It’s smooth, round, and the size of a fist. The silver and black shines temptingly, and she strides over to it. Her master will be so pleased once he’s free from that infernal cage. And she will be rewarded. Oh, the rewards. All the tasty humans she could ask for will be hers for the taking, once her master is free. She smiles just thinking about it.

She reaches her hand to the amulet, hand appearing to touch it but feeling empty space. She concentrates and slowly draws it into the living world, reaping it right into her waiting hands. The amulet is satisfyingly heavy. The silver chain is cold in her palm, and the sigils promise lovely dark things to her. It’s thirsty for blood. It’s a good thing she knows just where to get it from. She moves on to her next goal with a bright smile on her face.

They're in the hotel lobby, about to leave, when Cas stops and his eyes widen. "Cas?" Dean asks. "No. No, no..." Cas mumbles. "Cas, what is it? What's wrong?" Sam asks. "The amulet. It's gone. I can't feel it anymore."

"What?" Sam and Dean ask loudly in unison. "Is it still in Everlost?" Dean asks incredulously. "...I don't know," Cas says. "No, no. I can't feel it here." Cas looks bad, like he's about to have a nervous breakdown, and Dean doesn't like it. He doesn't know if Cas can take having his brother back again. "Well, what do we do?" Sam asks. He feels just as hopeless as Cas. "I-I must talk to Balthazar," Cas says, and then he's gone. Dean swears, and Danny pokes his head out the door. "Hey! Not in front of the kids!" He looks at them indignantly then vanishes again. Dean and Sam stand there, alone again.

A few hours go by-and least, Dean thinks it was only a few hours-and Dean forgets small things. Only they’re not that small. He forgets the lyrics to the song he was singing along to three days earlier, the one that had Sammy laughing his guts out because Dean was such a bad singer. The chorus from another song repeats in his head, over and over, but he doesn’t know the words anymore, even though he and Sam could testify that he’s listened to the song dozens of times. It’s nothing, Dean thinks, and walks over to Danny, the only one who’s outside. Sam was dragged inside by the kids.

“So what’s the deal with this place? Everlost, I mean,” Dean asks suddenly. He can’t help it, alright? This place is weird. He’s curious. “What do you know about it?” Danny spends the next ten minutes (or twenty, or thirty. Dean can’t keep track of the freaking time anymore. Apparently nobody loves clocks enough for one to pass over) teaching him Everlost 101. He tells him about bad queens and good ogres, and the whole thing is like a fairytale, only Dean’s standing right in the middle of it.

“Now things are less interesting. No more monsters. People are starting to get more organized here,” Danny says. “They’re finding out how to…get where they’re going,” he says. He takes out a nickel from his pocket. “But my coin’s cold. I can’t leave yet,” he says sadly. “Why not?” Dean asks. “I’m not dead. I’m just really hurt. I can skinjack.” It takes Dean a second to realize he means he can take a vessel.

“You possess people?” he asks. “Not if I can help it,” Danny adds quickly. “I’ve only done it once. When I first woke up here, I sunk too far down. I was gonna be a goner, so I just…jumped into the nearest fleshie,” he says with a shrug. “But I won’t do it anymore. It’s creepy,” he says with a shudder. “Anyways, I know what I have to do,” he says firmly. “I know where my body is. I traded enough stuff for information on where I am.” Danny says. “If I skinjack myself, I’ll be back. I’ll be a real boy again!” Danny grins. Dean doesn’t know what else to say other than, “Well, good luck, man.” He means it.

Danny grins wider. “Thanks.” He pauses. “But I feel worse for ‘Lyssa and Toby and Andy. Their bodies are dead, so they can’t go back. They’re kinda like my family, you know. I came here…I can’t remember when. We’ve been together a while, though. I like them. So I’m gonna help them do whatever they need to do to get where they’re going. ‘Lyssa’s got family in the living world she needs to see, and Toby and Andy need to do stuff too. I’ll go with them, then get back to my body,” Danny says. He’s glad he gets to tell someone this. Dean’s awestruck at how strong these kids are, all alone in a strange world with no solid ground to stand on. “So, uh…have you started forgetting?” Danny’s face is sympathetic, and Dean is reminded once again that this kid is way more experienced than he is in this world.

“Yeah,” he admits. “Man, it’s so weird. I can’t remember where I was last week or what the last thing I ate was.” Danny produces an index card and a pencil from his pocket. Passed-on paper and pencils are rare in Everlost, but Danny’s good at finding things. It’s his job. “You better write down your name. That’s the only way I’ve remembered mine.” Dean thinks it sounds dumb, but he’s a bit scared he’s going to forget, so he takes it with a smile of thanks. He writes DEAN WINCHESTER in blocky letters, and he feels horrible when he suddenly remembers the words more clearly, as if he was already forgetting them. He hands the pencil back to Danny and shoves the card in his pocket.

They sit for a few moments (minutes, hours) while Dean watches the sun set for the living.  
Dean’s amulet was destroyed after he threw it away. It was recycled at a plant; melted down, and most likely was turned into something boring, like an ashtray.

But the amulet passed on into Everlost. Since that Christmas so long ago, it had absorbed an awful lot of love, from Dean, Sam, and even Cas. It was part of Dean; it was the most important thing in the world. It was so important, it couldn’t leave. So when Danny found the strange necklace, he picked it up. The problem with trying to get information from children was that they always wanted something in return. Maybe this would help him find out where his body was. However, he didn’t trade it. Half a dozen towns, and no buyers, so when Danny found Montmorency Hotel it lay forgotten in the pile with the rest of the junk.

But then an angel decided to snoop around after the kids had dragged Sam away saying something about hide-and-seek.  
Cas appears in the tiny room with Danny's hoard. Balthazar had nothing conclusive to say. Cas just wants Dean and Sam back in their bodies so they can try this when there's less danger. He doesn't know when that will be.

Cas walks over to Danny’s pile in the back room. He knows they have to leave soon, to try to find the amulet again, but for now his curiosity is getting the better of them. What could make these objects so loved they passed on into Everlost? Cas pushes the junk around with his hand. A Captain America action figure, a yo-yo…they must have been important in the living world, but Cas can’t see it, which interests him.

Then a familiar gold catches his eye. It can’t be, but it is, and Cas pulls Dean’s amulet from the pile with disbelief. It’s passed on…he knows Dean threw it away, that much was evident, but it must have been destroyed somehow, then picked up by Danny by chance. Cas is surprised, and that doesn’t happen often. Well, he thinks, it is no surprise it passed on-he knows it was significant to Dean; a gift from his younger brother he treasured for years. It would be so easy to reap back into living…but would Dean want it? Would he smile again? Cas thinks he wants to see him smile again, because although he and Sam have mostly returned to the way they used to be, he thinks Dean forgets how much his brother cares about him. How everything Sam ever did was for him. Cas thinks it would be worth anything to see Dean know that again, and be happy.

Gabriel’s been lying on the couch all day and he’s too bored to move. He looks at Sam and Dean but they’re still out cold on the bed. He hopes they wake up soon, because his willpower is slowly fading and he’s fighting the urge to shave off Dean’s eyebrows.  
Angel wings are like human hearts. All angels have two that pump Grace through them like human hearts pump blood. Grace is most concentrated in the wings, but some of it remains spread through the angel, like veins of blood. When Castiel was killed-whichever time-his wings remained intact. There were no telltale ash markings where his wings burned away, because they remained with him as he hurtled away to wherever good little angels go where they die. The Grace in his wings stayed with him, as only the Grace spread in his body was destroyed. This happened simply because he was never killed with an angel’s sword.

However, when Gabriel was killed, he was killed with his blade-a weapon specifically created to burn away the wings of an archangel. When Lucifer killed him, his dying wings marked themselves on the floor of Elysian Fields. All the Grace in his wings was destroyed, and only the Grace in his body remained. Gabriel…got where he was going. But when Gabriel was brought back-from wherever part-time tricksters and archangels go when they die-he only came back with that small amount of Grace. For the first time, an archangel had died. It wasn’t anybody’s fault they sort of screwed up the resurrection.  
Gabriel’s wings passed on to Everlost. Wings are completely metaphysical, but they’re still like limbs to angels. And, you know, you get pretty attached to your limbs.

The demon pulls a curved knife from the pocket of her jeans. Well, after a struggle. How do humans wear these damned clothes? They’re so tight. Aww, look at the little humans. Well, the vessel isn’t exactly little, but he looks so warm and soft on the bed. Cutting him will be satisfying. “Get away from him,” A voice from behind her warns.

“Little angel, please stay out of this.” She turns around and smiles at him. She can’t sense how little Grace he has left, but she can always sense angels by how horrid they smell. So clean and pure. What a shame. She pulls a jagged sky blue stone about the size of a golf ball from her pocket. “Do you know what this is?” she asks. Gabriel doesn’t respond, just moves closer to Sam. She smiles wider when he doesn’t respond. He doesn’t have anything to fight with, but he’ll gank every demon bitch in the world to keep his brother from coming back. The stone glitters as she turns it, demonic sigils glimmering in the light.

“These are so much more convenient than those nasty Enochian sigils,” she muses. “And I don’t even have to waste any tasty human blood to activate it. This is the 21st century, and the humans aren’t the only ones who have made progress,” she says with a grin. “Goodbye, little angel.”

Before Gabriel can blink, she slices the edge of her thumb with her knife and lets blood drip into the sigils. Foul demon blood that revolts Gabriel by instinct. He starts forward, trying to stop what she’s doing even though he doesn’t know what it is or how to reverse it, but suddenly there’s a flash of white light and he’s gone. Banished. Restarted at his last checkpoint. Zapped a couple hundred miles away, left with only enough energy to go one more place. Fucking demon advancements.

“CAS!” Castiel actually jumps when Gabriel appears next to him with a shout. Gabriel’s so distressed he doesn’t notice as Cas slips something solid and living into his pocket. “A demon! In the motel. She had some weird ‘angel-be-gone’ stone and now she’s got Sam. I could use some help here, baby bro!” Gabriel puts a hand on the wall to steady himself. He looks exhausted; he’s used up all the energy he had left just to find Cas. “Please, brother. I can’t do anything else.” For the first time, Gabriel is well and truly scared, and Cas can see it clearly. Gabriel’s scared for himself, scared of Lucifer, scared for Sam. It hurts him to see his brother like this. “Stay here,” Cas orders, and no matter how fast he flies to the motel, the dread finds him faster.

The demon’s curved knife cuts into Sam’s wrist expertly, pouring yummy human blood into the sigils on the amulet, turning the black jewel blood-red. The amulet starts to glow, and the demon claps her hands in delight. It’s begun.

In the cage, Lucifer and Michael are fighting, Grace against Grace. Adam burned away quickly, almost painlessly, when they were first imprisoned-nothing but angels can survive the heat of the Devil’s cage. Now it’s just them, wounding each other over and over again, perpetually fighting-until Lucifer stops. Something’s changed. Michael stops too, as if listening. They can both feel the amulet calling Lucifer to Earth. “Brother, we’ll finish this later,” Lucifer promises. Michael rages, trying to stop him, but the walls are already crumbling, Lucifer’s Grace building in power as his vessel’s blood seeps over the amulet.

Cas appears at the motel room as the walls begin to shake from the amulet’s force. The demon looks at him amusedly. “Little angels everywhere,” she observes. She reaches into her pocket for her stone, but she underestimates Cas’ fury. He shoots his hand forward to touch her vessel’s cold, dead forehead, and she chokes as white light burns her from the inside. Within seconds she’s gone, leaving behind her stolen body on the motel room floor. That’s going to be hard to explain. But Cas doesn’t care about that in the slightest. The walls are shaking harder and the lights are exploding, one by one.

He grabs the amulet, sets it on the coffee table, and slams it with his fist as hard as he can. It breaks into sharp shards that skitter around him, and it stops glowing. The sigils aren’t intact anymore; the amulet is nothing. The big light over Cas’ head explodes, but the building stops shaking. Cas sighs, and a weight eases from his chest. The tiny shards have hurt his hand, but Cas allows himself to smile. He stopped his brother. He stopped him again.

In the cage, the walls begin to rebuild themselves. The cracks seal up, and Michael begins to slash at Lucifer even harder with his Grace. Michael is glowing with a satisfaction that just enrages Lucifer more. The cracks seal up, and Lucifer is trapped again. Forever locked with his brother. Lucifer has been silenced again.

The first thing Cas does besides breathe (he sort of forgot for a while there) is heal Sam’s wrist. He’s suddenly immensely glad Gabriel came to him immediately-if he’d been a minute later Sam would have bled to death there on the motel bed. But his work isn’t done yet, unfortunately.

He finds Dean and Sam, who are right where he left them in the hotel lobby with Gabriel. “What the hell, Cas? What happened?” Dean asks furiously. “A demon tried to summon Lucifer. She banished Gabriel and performed the ritual, but I stopped her in time,” Cas replies, trying to get Dean to calm down for once in his life. “Am I alright?” Sam asks, almost laughing at how weird the sentence sounds when he says it. “Yes,” Cas says. All three of them relax. Fuck, Dean’s glad to see him. He’s got glass in his hair and Dean can see blood dripping from his knuckles, and Dean’s intensely glad that’s all that happened to Cas when he left them. Cas pulls something out of his pocket, and Gabriel stiffens again.

“Is that the amulet?” Dean asks. Cas nods, and turns over the passed-on jewel in his hand. Such a powerful thing, but so easily destroyed. It’s useless now that it’s in Everlost, and Cas won’t let any demons reap it back this time. “If we let it sink, nobody can ever use it again,” Cas says. Sam and Dean look at each other. “It will sink to the center of the Earth. Trust me,” Cas persuades. “Alright,” Sam says, rubbing his eyes. Dean nods an agreement. “Whatever keeps big bro safe and sound underground,” Gabriel says with a shrug.

Cas lets the amulet slip from his hand, and watches as it slides into the ground. Sam breathes, because two apocalypses in a row stopped gives a guy a lot to be thankful for. The three of them grab one of Castiel’s arms, and he takes them back to the motel room. Cas zaps back to the living world with Gabriel, where they wait for Sam and Dean to slip back into their own bodies.

Dean goes first, leaving Sam slowly sinking into the motel room. Sam can see Gabriel’s blurred shape. He’s grinning at Cas, but even through the blur Sam can see he’s drained; his face is inhumanly pale. Sam knows it’s stupid, but he wishes he could help Gabriel. The guy saves his and Dean’s lives, and this is his reward? That doesn’t seem fair. Not even when compared to the things he’s done to them in the past. He picked a side. That’s what matters. Sam reluctantly moves toward his body.

He’s about to jump in, when Gabriel turns to clap his hand on Cas’ shoulder and Sam sees them. Wings. Not fluffy little feathery appendages-but sort of thick, gold lights emanating from between his vessel’s shoulder blades. There are two of them, and Sam thinks they’re beautiful. But he can tell that they’ve passed on. They stand apart with the clarity of everything that belongs to Everlost, in contrast to the blurriness of the rest of Gabriel. Is this why Gabriel hasn’t got all his mojo back? Sam can see a white light swirling slowly inside its golden outlines, what he knows has to be Grace. If Gabriel got his wings back, then he would be back the way it used to be. A stupid thought forms in his mind. The tiny voice in his head is screaming “Get back to your body! Ignore the pretty wings! Are you even listening to me?” Sam walks (sinks) to the glow in Gabriel like a dead man, like he can’t stop himself.

Dean skinjacks himself, and waking up is the happiest he’s been all day. He can finally feel again. He didn’t know how much he’d missed it. He can feel the cold air coming in from the broken motel windows (once again, they’ve ruined another motel), and he can feel the scratchy motel sheets on his skin. He feels alive, and he suddenly makes a silent wish that the Afterlights they met get where they’re going. He puts his hand in his pocket, and he pulls out a note card with his name on it. Geez, it came with him. Man, he really hopes those kids are gonna be okay. He meets Cas’ eyes, and grins, because the guy’s a damn sweet sight to wake up to. How is he this lucky again? He can’t seem to figure it out.

He turns to Sam, and prods him where he still lies on the bed. “C’mon Sam, wakey-wakey!” Sam doesn’t stir. He frowns and shakes him hard, not caring how much Sam bitchfaces at him if he hurts him. Gabriel and Cas walk over, equally anxious frowns on their faces. Dean looks at Cas. “Take me back,” Dean demands. “Something’s wrong, Cas, take me back!” Cas looks at him sternly. “No. Stay here. I’ll find him,” he promises, and disappears. “Dammit!” Dean yells where Cas used to be. He’s left him again, and he’s going to get himself killed, and Dean can’t deal with that, not again. Gabriel stands next to the bed, hoping (not praying, never praying) that Sam will come back.

Let’s get this straight: reaping is easy. Afterlights have been confusing the living world to no end by nicking their dinners and jewelry and toys for centuries. Pretty much every lost item that’s been shrugged off was actually stolen by a greedy Afterlight. Yes, that’s where your favorite shirt went. It’s in a better place.

Reaping things into (and out of) the living world is just a matter of wanting it enough. Granted, reaping objects that are strictly metaphysical is a bit tougher-but Sam’s always been an overachiever, hasn’t he? Always has to help everybody, no matter the consequences. Well, that’s mostly true. Most of him definitely does want to do this-for the sake of decency and rainbows everywhere-but part of it happens at the last second, out of pure selfishness. He sees Gabriel’s expression, and it’s wrecked; he looks sad and anxious and hopeful, and all for Sam. That’s what makes him decide to help Gabriel.

He moves closer to Gabriel, who’s standing over Sam’s body, unaware as Sam reaches his hands towards the wings and pushes them into the living world. They don’t manifest in the living world; they’re invisible-but they disappear from Everlost and Sam knows he did it. Then Gabriel falls to his hands and knees on the floor. Oh fuck, Sam thinks. Sam skinjacks himself quickly, waking up cold and covered in his blood to see Gabriel’s eyes glowing white in the dark motel room. Cas is kneeling next to him, and when Dean exclaims “Sammy!” he looks over to see Dean calling his brother an idiot and getting Sam’s blood on his clothes.

The glow in Gabriel’s eyes brightens to an almost blinding glow, and then suddenly recedes into nothing as he stands. “Well, that was…invasive.” He blinks. “My Grace is back,” he says, dumbstruck. Cas looks back at him, eyes questioning and concerned. “How?” Cas demands. Dean gets the same look he used to get when teachers tried to teach him algebra, Cas matches the look, and Sam can’t help but smile. Gabriel looks over at him, brow furrowed. “What the hell did you do?” he asks incredulously. Sam’s smile fades. He didn’t think about having to explain it. He definitely didn’t think of that, and certainly not when Gabriel’s looking at him like he’s the only fucking person in the world.

“Uh,” Sam starts. “Your wings were passed on. I reaped them back into the living world.” Gabriel just stares. Dean just covers his eyes with his hand. “Sam. What.” That’s it: his brother is insane. Cas looks at Gabriel. It’s true; he can see Grace inside his brother. He never thought Sam would ever think of doing that for Gabriel, after everything he did…but he supposes that’s why Sam did it: because of everything he did. They’d lost Gabriel, but now they have him, and it’s how it should be-Gabriel with his Grace. Gabriel grins wide at Sam who does the same, and Cas manages a smile of his own. He’s been doing that a lot lately. Things are looking up.

“Ow.” Cas winces as Dean pulls a piece of black jewel from his hand. “Alright, that’s it.” He sets the piece on the towel, which is covered in shiny bits of stone covered in Cas’ blood. It’s damn quiet in the room, because once Gabriel stopped gaping at Sam, he grabbed his sleeve, said “I am treating you to dinner,” firmly, even though it is currently one in the morning, and disappeared with him. Dean made fake gagging noises, even though it was pretty much useless since the lovebirds weren’t even there, and he earned a tiny smile from Cas. Suddenly Cas remembers something important. “I forgot. How did I forget?” he murmurs softly. “What?” Dean looks at him. Cas reaches into his coat pocket with his good hand, and pulls Dean’s amulet out. Dean’s eyes widen. “What…What?” He needs to try that again. “I threw this away-how did you-where did you-”

“Danny found it. It was destroyed, but it passed on,” Cas interrupts him. Dean just stares at him, silently thanking Danny. He hesitantly reaches his hand out to grab the amulet. “So you…reaped it.” Cas nods, then adds, “For you,” and shit, there’s no going back now, this is a full-blown chick-flick moment. “Cas, fuck…thank you,” he says. He missed the damn thing, alright? He still needs it.

He quickly puts the amulet around his neck, and smiles, and from Cas’ perspective, that’s all the thanks he needs. But Dean’s like his little brother, an overachiever, so he grabs Cas’ coat and kisses him. Cas kisses him back, and Dean’s shoulders underneath his hands are solid and warm. Suddenly Gabriel and Sam are in the middle of the room. “Agh!” Sam covers his eyes. Oh, God, I’m blind! Sam thinks. I almost died in limbo, and now I’m blind! He’s sort of smiling underneath his horror, though, just a little bit.

Dean reluctantly breaks away from Cas, who is trying desperately to telepathically signal Gabriel not to smite Dean for making out with his little brother. Gabriel must have heard him, because he grins. “Sammy, be very quiet! We’ve got to leave them in their natural environment, or we’ll ruin everything. C’mon, there’s still time for dessert.” They’re gone in a snap of his fingers. Good riddance. Dean grins at Cas, and it is seriously fucked how weird his day has been. But that doesn’t change anything. They’re the luckiest men in the world.


End file.
